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Both sides in Iran claim to represent Islam

Jun 22, 2009 6:50 am By Robert Spencer

Which is why any genuine substantial change appears unlikely. Nonetheless, events in Iran bear close watching — after all, the Shah ran a relatively secular state, and there is still a considerable number of proponents of such a state in Iran. As the chaotic events unfold, things could turn in their direction.

Meanwhile, for the best, up-to-the-minute coverage of what is going on in Iran, don’t miss Atlas Shrugs, where you can find it all — be sure to scroll down, as there are many relevant posts.

“In Iran, Both Sides Seek to Carry Islam’s Banner,” by Neil MacFarquhar in the New York Times, June 21 (thanks to James):

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ended his prayer sermon in tears on Friday, invoking the name of a disappeared Shiite prophet to suggest that his government was besieged by forces of evil out to destroy a legitimate Islamic government.

The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, in criticizing the government, demanded the kind of justice promised by the Koran and exhorted his followers to take to their rooftops at night to cry out, “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”

In the battle to control Iran’s streets, both the government and the opposition are deploying religious symbols and parables to portray themselves as pursing the ideal of a just Islamic state.

That struggle could prove the main fulcrum in the battle for the hearts and minds of most ordinary Iranians, because the Islamic Revolution, since its inception, has painted itself as battling evil. If the government fails the test of being just, not least by using excessive violence against its citizens, it risks letting the opposition wrap itself in the mantle of Islamic virtue.

“If either the reformists or the conservatives can make reference to Islamic values in a way that the majority of citizens understand, they will win,” said Mohsen Kadivar, a senior Iranian religious scholar teaching Islamic studies at Duke University….

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